Not that I knock either of them - Ozzie obviously has a good track record and Groove looks interesting stuff - almost too much like Lotus Notes sometimes but bought bang up to date.

Heres a quick DHTML tip for you - accessing field values when a document is in read mode.

One question I get asked a lot is what are these regular expressions (in javascript). Well today I came across a good link which explains them for you!

I am still not getting any joy on the Servlet front - apparently its my code - well since they have not been changed for a year and have always worked fine and then servers are moved changed and they stop working - well doesn't take a genius to work that one out! - getting frustrated now.

I resumed work on the DX discussion application for this site yesterday - hopefully will be in a fit state to put on this site by the end of this week. When the Framework version 2 is released this will be one of the many free, open source applications to come with it.   A pre-release version 2 of DX will be available next week - but I shall not be putting it up on the site quite yet. I already have a few test sites that will be receiving the software - should you wish to join them, then email me at steve.castledine@projectdx.org. Numbers are limited so if you tell me what you would like to test it on/use it for then this will help me evaluate the best sites for testing.

IBM say that WebSphere 5 will serve as the underlying universal platform for all of IBM's on-demand software, tightly integrating with DB2, Tivoli and Lotus. They also go on to claim that WebSphere 5 includes the industry's broadest support for Web services standards (Bill do you agree?).

Talking of Web Services, I must get round to adding a Web Services section to this web site. As it stands I think Web Services, SOAP and XML are going to be key technologies in the forthcoming years no matter which server/architecture vendor you go for.

I was thinking the other day of adding a Domino based website showcase on this site. Then I remembered there is one at domino.siteatlas.com. This has duly been added to my links page.

A piece of software I would like to mention today is NetBeans. NetBeans is a fully featured professional IDE which you can build any kind of application with. It is similar to the Eclipse Project in that it is Open Source and you can get both commercial and free extensions to support various technologies. I mention it as it is a good free development client which can be used for any of my Java projects/samples and for developing applications for Puakma which I covered yesterday.

I don't know about you, all these technologies etc feels like a full time job just to keep up with them. I find it actually helps to write for this web site as it helps my mind to take it all in etc. Incidently I didn't have time to look at whats going on with my sites 'Web Services' - ie Servlets - DominoDeveloper.net have changed a few things around so need to find out what I need to do to move with them!

Puakma is a 100% Java application server, providing application and collaboration services, which I would put forward as an option beyond/with Domino into J2EE, but more suited to middle-market companies than WebSphere because of reduced purchasing and operating costs. Its probably aimed at the same market as WebSphere Express, however Puakma isn't restricted to just Servlets and JSP's.

I will in due course also do a review on WebSphere Express, as one of the aims of this site is to introduce the J2EE track beyond Domino and help give people the information required to understand what it is all about. If i'm feeling brave and risk upsetting the true IBM/Domino fans I may also do a write up on Microsofts .NET technologies - again so people can see at a glance what it is all about.

Hopefully now my birthday is out of the way, you will see a lot of content appearing here. We shall very shortly be getting to version 2 of the DXFramework which will be the public release version. The product itself is currently having an updated front end added, improved javascript editing and final testing.

As an update, it seems the Java Servlets are still not up and running at DominoDeveloper.net - therefore will be doing some workarounds/fixing tonight. Then hopefully the comments etc will be working again from tommorrow.

See below!!

This weekend sees me doing a review of Puakma - hopefully to be published on monday. I may also add an article on my 'mySQL' experiencies. Have a good one!

Things are a bit pearshaped today. The servlets for this site have stopped running and as the posting comments, reading comments and the Contact Manager Demo rely on them - like I said - 'pearshaped'! I'm hoping the tech guys at DominoDeveloper.net can get to the bottom of it soon.

Normal service for this site shall be resumed tommorrow - I will get my finger out tonight and create more content. For today I have stolen a link from benpoole.com who has today had a site 'makeover'. This link is to a free Domino Blogging Templete at FreeDomBlog.com. I have added this to my Links page.

Once this 'birthday' thing is out of my system, rest assured normal service will be continued. I have so many plans for further technical content, more interactive demonstrations, a new Web Mail client for Domino, and of course the release version of the DXFramework.

I nearly had to apologise for not turning up for my surprise party on Saturday nite - was feeling pretty awful from Friday so nearly stayed at home - that would have been embarrassing - well they should have told me about it!

Well its the end of the week already and this weekend is my last as somebody in their twenties so I had better make the most of it!   In case you missed it (was added late yesterday), there is a review of this site at DominoPower.com - you can read it here.

I have posted another article today - Posting to Java Servlets Part 3 - Java Servlet. This is the third in this series - i'm going to spend some time on the 'viewer' application next week - getting it working as it should. I will then do a part 4 explaining about it.

Following on from yesterdays mention of Websphere Express, I have got myself a copy so will be looking at this probably at the end of next week. First looks is that its possibly the 'missing link', as its just a servlet/jsp container (no enterprise java beans etc) with Websphere Studio on top - so would be the sort of thing to use with Domino to extend its capability- we shall see - I can feel some IBM strategy 'vibe' here. Pricing is quoted at $25 a user or $2,000 unlimited users (per processor).

Finally, I have also updated the about document for the DXFramework. Hope it makes some sense! The Framework release version is gathering pace now - you will see a lot more information coming this way soon.

I'm back in the land of the living. Tuesday nights gig at The Birmingham Academy (England) with Alabama3 was fantastic. I was a bit dubious in advance - it was a night arranged by one of my Lotus Notes buddies - and I've heard the music in his car!

It was pointed out to me that when I released the article - Posting to Java Servlets Part 1 - Introduction, I forgot to upload the image files to go with it - ooops - corrected my 'schoolboy' error! Following on from this, I have today uploaded Posting to Java Servlets Part 2 - HTML Form.

A late entry to this blog - you can read a review of this site on DominoPower.com. You can find the article here.

For once I am writing this article in advance as I'm going to see a band (Alabama 3) tonight (last night when this is posted!) and so i'm sure I will not have time (or be in any condition for writing) this blog.

If like me you live in England (or anywhere in the UK for that matter) you can be pretty sure its raining today - for a change!   However as a famous philosopher once said (Dolly Parton sorry - Dolly Parton) - You cant have a rainbow without rain! - positive thinking (and one of the many good lines from The Office).

Today, I have published a new article - Posting to Java Servlets Part 1 - Introduction, I should be posting additional articles in this series everyday this week. I should also be posting up my project files by the end of the week.

I have also uploaded an application I developed using the DXFramework to allow you to view the comments posted etc. You can access this by clicking on the 'View Comments' link. Unfortunately at the moment this only works for Internet Explorer 5.5 and above. I am planning to find time soon to make all the DX stuff work for Mozilla/Netscape 7. In the meantime you can find a horrid looking Notes Discussion template version here.

Its not fully functional yet. It currently allows you to view posts and click into documents. Further functionality will be added over the next week. So basically at the moment I can reply to posts - but you can't! - Sounds good to me! If things do not work as intended - sorry its currently an experiment - email me any bugs etc.

For those of you able to use the 'viewer', it is a good example of how you can take a standard (or especially 'legacy' type with layout regions etc) notes database and web enable it using the DXFramework tools. This works by acting as a layer between your Notes Database and the browser - hence no changes required for the original database.

Well its been officially one week since I last posted an article! My time has been swallowed up by doing the servlet series, work and the one thing I really dislike - Company Accounts! I have a lot of content almost ready just have to 'formalise' it all.

Tomorrow I aim to demonstrate further the View Component I have developed for the DXFramework, via the View Comments functionality for this site. I should also have the first few articles on Posting to a Java Servlet available as well.

Been working hard - firstly corrected some 'school boy' errors on this site - so hopefully works just the same in Netscape (7) as it does Internet Explorer.

I have also put up a new 'Add Comment' button to this 'blog' and it will appear shortly on all blogs and articles. This add comment feature uses the Java Servlet that i'm currently writing articles on - which will be posted on monday.

The 'view comments' is not active yet - thats another part of the 'experiment' im doing - more on that next week. In the meantime you should be able to see the comments posted here. This is the standard Notes Discussion template - my Servlet is creating documents in there. The discussion database is currently using the java applet views, outlines etc - will make these html if I get a chance later on.

Please bear with me - as the sign indicates im constantly making changes so if things do not work - try again later. It will be worth it - next week this site will be very very busy with new content.

07/11/2002 - Beavering!

I'm still beavering away! - but not quite finished yet.   This Sending data to a servlet 'article' has become a larger 'experiment' than I thought it would turn out to be. The servlet's done, the html forms done - what ive been doing is trying to turn it into a real life example and use it for the comments on this site. I've got that bit working - easy enough - just got to finish off another part which allows you to read the posts, reply etc. Then i've still got to finish writing it all up.

06/11/2002 - Work in Progress

No articles today - still working away on "Posting Data to a Servlet", which is fast becoming a series of articles rather than one - so hopefully tomorrow they will be like buses - you wait ages for one and then three turn up at once!

Interesting to read yesterday an article entitled "WebSphere Too Bloated for Small Shops". Whilst it is IBM's 'golden child' surely they should recognise that small-medium size companies cannot afford the cost it takes to implement etc.

I think they are missing a market opportunity not to target these people with either cut down versions or to market a different bundle - say JSP stuff etc with Domino - which as most people know they pulled.

Over the next few months I shall be researching the options available for the small-medium companies who are concerned about the future of Domino - and obviously their investment in it. I will report back soon, together with recommended solutions for those who are interested - as I do have a day job as well!

05/11/2002 - Bonfire Night

In the UK it is tonight known as Bonfire Night. Although why it is called night is beyond me - should be bonfire month as instead of dodging stray rockets (firework variety) for one night you tend to have to do it for a month!

I was planning on having another article finished today to do with servlets and receiving data. Its not quite finished yet and will form part of a new Domino based comments part of this site. I have basic comments, however you just submit them and never see them again - I'm looking to build a more interactive style of commenting and obviously share how I do it.

The main reason I didnt finish is because last nite I watched the BBC's excellent comedy program 'The Office'. Last night was the last in the series and always leaves me unable to work after it has finished due to a pain in my side from laughing.

Read a blog yesterday on Ned Batchelder's site. Apart from the technical content of the blog, it confirms what I always make a point of - The Notes Architecture is really legacy type stuff - ie was put together before all the different standards we have today. Therefore it is not 'ideal' for some of the web stuff we want and try to do. A lot of the point of this site is to address those needs that 'Vanilla' 'Legacy' Notes/Domino doesnt do very well and plug the gap with knowledge and tools. Hopefully i've started with the knowledge - tools will be available very soon.

To follow on from this, I was asked yesterday - so what is 'ProjectDX' - my unedited reply was:

04/11/2002 - Identity Crisis?

Last week I was updating the DXFramework API to version 1.7.6 in order that it could work on Domino 5 and 6 with the same Javascript Code. However in order to do this, I had to have my code detect which version of the server it was running from due to slight differences with how each version sends out XML attribute information.

I have written an article - Domino - Detecting Server Version from Web to show you how I went about this.

I also came across a very simple way of hiding twisties on the web using CSS - again I have therefore written an article entitled CSS - Hiding Twisties on the Web.

A few additional Domino links for you as well - dev.kanngard.net, www.dominozone.net, www.piacevole.com. The first being a technical site, the second a technical/magazine type site and the third a look at combining Domino with Cocoon - an XML publishing framework being developed by the Apache XML Project.

You may or may not have noticed I am a bit behind all the changes I wanted on this site by now! - Rest assured I am working hard and things are 'on the way'! I have taken off Octobers 'blogs' and placed them here (You will also notice a new archive section on the navigation bar.

Incidently, the Contact Manager Demo is running the 1.7.6 code that I mentioned above. It has had a lot of use over the month it has been available. I did have servlet issues for a while when it was converted to Domino 6, but apart from that it has stood up to its task. Should anyone have any bugs to report then I would be grateful if you mailed them to me.

01/11/2002 - 1 Month Young - Nearly 30 Years OLD !

In the same month I turn 30 years old this site is now 1 month young! Lets have a little dance! (although I will be ignoring my birthday this time round).   As you can see i've been playing with the site design, and come monday you will see some 1 month young site updates, together with new features and hopefully some organisation about the place - a spring clean in Autumn! I'm even getting new graphics done - although may be another week before they arrive!

For today, I have done a little Javascript tip, because I was asked how to do it yesterday. Basically it is how to retrieve field values from a parent browser window.